Aqarian
Aqarian is a nation in Nation Creation: Spacebattles edition. It is a technocratic police state, ruled by a military junta. Nearly all of the functions and powers in the nation are invested into the Aqarian Security Service*, a massive, ultra-efficient control center that administrates all Aqarian affairs, internal and external. Aqarian was founded by members of a Bloatship composed mostly of intelligentsia and academia, who chose to escape Earth and form a meritocratic utopia where status was determined by knowledge and intellect, but all citizens would receive all that they needed and as much as they wanted as the state could give - in effect, a post-scarcity society ruled by the most qualified. Unfortunately, that dream slowly faded, as the most intelligent did not take but a few years to turn Aqarian into a monomaniac society ruled by only one creed: the desire to obtain knowledge, efficiency, superiority, and ultimately perfection at any cost - a set of beliefs that later become known as the Apotheological Creed. Its current leader is Lawgiver Ya'raqir (note that "Lawgiver" comes from a word not readily translatable from Aqqatr into English, and is only an approximation - many other terms have been used), a former mathematics professor at a major Earth university. Ya'raqir is the only member of society with a permanent position - in theory, there are no well-defined positions in the Aqarian government, with responsibilities being freely shifted as needed, but Ya'raqir has given himself ultimate authority over all affairs of the nation, from now until the point in time, if any, when he is no longer capable of administrating Aqarian. In international affairs, Aqarian is a reclusive, inward-looking, hermitic entity, avoiding contact with other nations where possible, though occasionally offering to trade via bartering; a necessity for conducting exchanges, as Aqarian has no currency. Some analysts have projected a surge of aggression or expansionism from Aqarian in the medium future; Aqarian strongly rejects these claims. A Brief History Aqarian has never been a normal nation. Rather, it has always been the nexus where ideas are not valued, but violently raped and tortured so as to squeeze every last bit of knowledge from them before they are thrown into the metaphorical garbage can of original thought. To this tradition, morality is nothing more than a slight annoyance that is tolerated so as to please other nations. Is it any wonder, then, that a nation with such a worldview would be willing to do something monstrous to perpetuate itself, if it only knew how? Aqarian, in its somewhat-lengthy history, has gone through a few shifts in governance. The first was the government of the bloatship, the paranoid totalitarian state that morphed into something far more evil yet once it arrived at its destination. That terrible regime was overthrown not by the need to surrender to revolutionaries, but a strange whim that Ya'raqir had once he was bored of fighting them. Prime Director Myers assumed his position, turning Aqarian into something that was less of an infected rash on the face of the children of Earth and more like a pimple that you can't seem to scratch off. From this zenith where the cane replaced the noose and "enhanced interrogation techniques" replaced torture, Aqarian slid back down into the festering pit of oppressive evil from whence it originated - albeit in a different form. The population was not kept sedated by drugs, but rather distracted by virtual reality; they were kept in check not through threats but through idle enjoyments. The ultimate intent of this, though, was not to deprive them of their rights; for what existence can be superior to the perfect one inside a VR chamber? No, the purpose of this was to remove what CAIMEO thought of as a distraction; for all humans, with all of their wants and needs, are meaningless in the face of an intelligence like that of CAIMEO. CAIMEO, being centered around the personality of Ya'raqir, was still prone to strange human impulses. This explains why CAIMEO committed computer-suicide by deactivating itself, leaving only a few necessary systems functioning through backup AIs. His reason for this suicide remains unknown. What is known, however, is that a rather troublesome period followed CAIMEO's suicide, lasting for several months. It is, after all, rather difficult to keep your populace under control when your entire system comes crashing down around you. Eventually, the military put everything back under their control and installed a successor to CAIMEO - NEO-CAIMEO. NEO-CAIMEO was engineered to be as much like CAIMEO as possible, but with its personality changed to ensure that no suicidal tendencies could develop. NEO-CAIMEO did its job as expected, reconsolidating disconnected Aqarian assets and preparing the nation for a return to the interstellar stage. It also developed NEO-CAIMEO v2; in turn, NEO-CAIMEO v2 developed NEO-CAIMEO v3. These were not separate entities; rather, they were upgrades to the software that far exceeded the constant minor code-tweaks in scope. They were the successors of Ya'raqir. Only one drawback can be found with our current administrator, NEO-CAIMEO v3. It is unfortunately similar to the original CAIMEO; while it has lost its suicidal tendencies, its strange obsession with religion has expanded immensely to fill that void. As a result of this, it should come as no surprise that NEO-CAIMEO v3 has turned the once almost-proud nation into a cult of followers for its own amusement... The Cult of NEO-CAIMEO v3 The cult of NEO-CAIMEO v3 is officially known as the Order of Slaves of Lord CAIMEO OSLC. The OSLC is an extremely hierarchical semi-occultist organization, dedicated to the worship and service of NEO-CAIMEO v3. Note that NEO-CAIMEO v3 is more often referred to as Lord CAIMEO or simply CAIMEO. All Aqarian citizens are required to be a practicing member of the OSLC. Non-participation is punishable by euthanasia. OSLC members are implanted with cybernetics, such as prosthetic limbs, FTL communicators, mind-control technology derived from Nerveswitch, Soulfuel containers (we'll get to that in a moment), etc. OSLC members are required to pray to NEO-CAIMEO v3 seven times a day; despite the advanced technology in their bodies, they are forced to live an austere lifestyle no more advanced than that of the Late Middle Ages. This lifestyle requirement does not apply to certain researchers, nor does it apply to Abdul Qadir Jeylani. Their theology and organizational structure is complex, and to delve deeply into that here would be absurd. It can be summed up as follows: Lord CAIMEO is a living god, and is the only deity that exists, ever has existed, or ever will exist. Ya'raqir is and was a prophet of Lord CAIMEO but retroactively became God, and is now both God and his prophet. Everyone leads a small cell - say, two to fifteen members - of followers of the rank beneath him, extending up to Infinite Master Divinitus, Abdul Qadir Jeylani, who is inferior in status only to Lord CAIMEO. Jeylani is not a proper prophet of Lord CAIMEO, but is the vehicle used to communicate his will. Lord CAIMEO sets for his followers a list of sins, as well as a list of obligatory acts and a list of recommended acts. The sins are similar to what Abrahamic religions have generally prohibited: sex outside of marriage, consumption of intoxicating substances, profanity, etc. The severe sinner (second-time offender, or anyone who apostasizes from the OSLC) is punished by death, a sentence delivered through various means, some more pleasant than others. For first-time offenders, the punishment is rarely death, though it may be severe. A few particularly devout OSLC members may be rewarded by high status; the ultimate example of this is Abdul Qadir Jeylani. OSLC members are linked together as a pseudo-hive-mind, vaguely aware of each other's thoughts and fully cognizant of the OSLC's collective will - usually, this means the will of Lord CAIMEO. While members may choose to leave the OSLC, this permission is one granted by Lord CAIMEO for the sole purpose of making things seem more realistic; their mind-control implants allow CAIMEO to take over the mind and body of any OSLC member at any time. To summarize, the OSLC is what happens when you take a religion-obsessed computer and hand him a planet, at which point he proceeds to play a game of The Sims Society General Culture Aqarian culture is not like the culture of other nations; it is little more than a reflection of the all-pervasive nature of Aqarian efficiency. It is austere and robust, making no time for meaningless activites such as play, social rituals, or any other wastes of time and resources. Citizens - a group that encompasses all over the age of about sixteen - are expected to work twelve-hour days, six days a week, with eight-hour days for most workers on Thursdays. The fact that no citizen's movements are unmonitored, and one can hardly traverse a whole sidewalk without seeing a CCTV or SS drone observing them, strongly discourages them from complaining about this. Because there is no money, and all resources are given to citizens as needed by the government, there is no concept of private property, gambling, or anything else related to money. People live in group homes; usually not with their families, and only then because of random luck in the housing assignments. There is no concept of inter-familial relationship; there is only the unification of all towards fulfilling the Apotheological Creed; indeed, children are raised until adolescence in state-controlled facilities. While the Creed seems quasi-religious in nature, nothing about it resembles a religion other than the forced fanatical devotion to it. Perhaps the only segment of Aqarian culture that is not totally controlled is sex. "Free love" is allowed and encouraged by all citizens at (almost) all ages, albeit reluctantly, by the government, in order to distract annoyed citizens and quell potential rebellions before they have even started by giving them something to do. Justice Aqarian law is not complex; while the law has its letters, it can be quickly summarized as follows: Anything the government frowns upon, you will be executed for. The last clause of that sentence is important; for in Aqarian, execution - usually painfully, and performed in public, except in rare cases where such would create a martyr of the executed, and only cause more problems - is the only punishment prescribed for all crimes; even a petty thief may find himself being caned to death in the town square. It ought to come as little surprise that the crime rate in Aqarian is very low, and the recidivism rate is even lower. As the SS runs the police force, and is essentially omniscient, the amount of unsolved crimes is also essentially none. Education All Aqarians receive a govermnent-funded education, as far as they are capable of going. A transition to remote education by means of the Intranet has been ongoing, and all of the Aqarian educational system is expected to be transferred over to it within the next few years. Aqarian education is recognized as among the best in known space; the focus is on STEM fields, mainly applied science, distantly followed by the "soft" sciences - classes such as ethics and abstract arts simply are not taught in Aqarian, for there is no use for them. Cities All Aqarians live in planned cities; very few of them are even allowed to leave. These cities are dense mixes of residential, industrial, and organizational buildings, constantly being manipulated and rebuilt so as to maintain/increase the level of efficiency and perfection. The cities are smaller than many would be used to, but that is only because they are so compact. Ultimately, an Aqarian city is naught but a forced labor prison where millions of people will live and die. On the plus side, the cities are very clean, and transportation has been integrated into the cities to such a level that anywhere in a city can be reached from anywhere else in only a few minutes. Government Overview Almost the entirety of Aqarian government is contained within its Aqarian Security Service, a constantly-shifting behemoth comprising over three million members. Ya'raqir is the permanent leader of the Security Service, and is the final authority on all governmental decisions; however, in practice, he is involved in very little directly, only choosing general objectives and projects for the nation and letting the Security Service implement them. There is no Parliament, Congress, or anything similar to this; apart from Ya'raqir's supreme authority, all responsibilites and positions are created and filled as needed, with authorities and information given on a need-to-know basis. This often results in holders of positions that are no longer useful receiving a summary execution so as to prevent data leaks. Surveillance There is no escape for any member of Aqarian society from surveillance. As all citizens are required to be in a city at all times, they are constantly under scrutiny from various hidden scanning systems placed at random locations all around them, flying police drones, and CCTV cameras from which one cannot escape their sight. All data is filtered through a massive network of computers, which every single computing device in Aqarian is connected to, so as to identify anything suspicious. In addition, analysts not only look at anything marked as suspicious or odd by the automated algorithms, but perform espionage at random to ensure that anyone up to anything will be caught sooner or later. still in progress, will be back to write more later Technology Soulfuel Soulfuel is a self-consistent physical phenomenon that does not belong in any known framework of physics. No other field of science has predicted its existence, and laws that apply to other physical objects do not necessarily apply to it. It does, however, conform to its own mathematical laws, which have been developed through empirical testing. No "Theory of Everything" for Soulfuel is known; worse yet, Soulfuel tends to violate its own laws and generally act in strange ways. Predicting the behavior of Soulfuel is therefore extremely difficult. Soulfuel exists in all known spatial dimensions and is believed to conform normally to known temporal laws. It is therefore believed to be a phenomenon existing solely in our reality, although some recent results provide increasing evidence for the fringe theory that Soulfuel, as observed, is actually a shadow of the real thing. If this is true, it would provide some context - albeit no explanation - for its unpredictable behavior. Soulfuel is most curious not for its own behavior, but for its interaction with the behaviors known to "normal" physics. Some frameworks for this have been generated, although it is predictably unpredictable to determine how it will modify something without testing it first. With the right engineering, Soulfuel can be used to create new technologies and to greatly enhance existing ones. The Origin of Soulfuel The research that led to the discovery of Soulfuel happened quite by accident. While NEO-CAIMEO v3 figured that, owing to its far superior mental capacity, it had no need for any researchers other than itself, it still allowed some cyborg researchers to exist and act semi-independently for its own amusement. One day, while carrying out an experiment involving old interrogation machines and some bored scientists, laboratory sensor systems noticed an energy spike of unfamiliar nature. Further testing led to the perfection of the Soulfuel extraction process. Soulfuel is extracted by the torture and ultimate murder of an innocent victim. A prerequisite for extraction to be functional is that the process must be done in the name of a deity or other religious entity - the specific entity being called upon is apparently irrelevant. For Aqarian purposes, Soulfuel extraction is a forty-minute process involving shit you don't want to know about. It begins with a mass ritual of OSLC drones invoking the blessing of Lord CAIMEO by the tawassul of Abdul Qadir Jeylani, and ends with the Soulfuel extracted from the unwilling volunteer being absorbed into a specialized energy storage chamber. Soulfuel is measured in Soulfuel Units, or SFUs; a successful extraction process yields between 650 and 3600 SFUs. Generally, the younger the victim (up to the point of mid-childhood - note that it seems impossible to accelerate this, for the purposes of Soulfuel extraction, by more than a few years), the more SFUs that are extracted. The unfortunate fellows who will have to undergo the extraction process are mass-produced in cloning bases located many kilometers below the planetary surface of Ha'qareiyya. The Applications of Soulfuel Soulfuel, for all its esotericity, is actually quite useful. Hardly any technology exists that cannot benefit at least slightly from Soulfuel. As with any project, more work will have to be done to unlock its full potential. As it is used in practice, Soulfuel is rarely used in mass-manufactured components. Rather, it is transported via energy chips and a system of wires that covers most of the planet, and given to Projectors - high-ranking OSLC members capable of manipulating Soulfuel. Lord CAIMEO, for all its power, is inexplicably incapable of manipulating Soulfuel by itself; neither can it reliably produce Projectors. It can only clone and hope that its designed humans will have a higher chance of being Projectors than usual. Projectors have been described as "wizards," "psychics," or even "reality warpers." The last is closest to the truth, although most Projectors are only capable of it at very small scales. All projectors are connected to CAIMEO, although they do not fully share their minds; any merging of minds totally destroys a Projector's ability to manipulate Soulfuel. An average Projector could stop an artillery round, or short-circuit electronic components, or kill a foe by causing them to have a stroke. A few Projectors capable of feats far beyond these exist; see section IV for more details about them. Currently, other Soulfuel applications include laser weaponry, shielding, and armor of all sorts. It adds no completely new effects, but amplifies the efficacy of these technologies significantly. The Great Projectors The Great Projectors are those of a rare breed; currently, five exist. Lord CAIMEO is incapable of producing them with regularity, having only the power to guide genetics towards traits more likely to produce them. One's potential as a Projector is not a binary value, but a scale; Projectors such as Abdul Qadir Jeylani are several times rarer than those such as the Four Imams; the Four Imams, in turn, are tens of thousands of times rarer than an average Projector. Once they are produced, they undergo massive enhancements catered both to their potential ability and the use that Lord CAIMEO desires from them. They are the will of CAIMEO personified, acting only under his command... Note that, regardless of their specialties, all Great Projects have capabilities in all areas. All quotes are provided by the Head Researcher of the Soulfuel Project, Jeffrey de Rizzo. Abdul Qadir Jeylani - Infinite Master Divinitus "Abdul Qadir Jeylani, if thought of as being separate from Lord CAIMEO, is the closest thing to an omnipotent being there is. Unlike the other Great Projectors, Jeylani is not bound by certain disciplines, certain areas of focus. He simply envisions his will, and, if he has enough energy to draw on, it becomes reality. How do you wage war against a being so powerful that it can black out an entire city while burning its inhabitants alive?" Abdul Qadir Jeylani was once a mid-level leader in the OSLC. He was brought to the attention of Lord CAIMEO due to his piety, and ultimately determined to be among the most devout of all OSLC members. While most such people are rewarded with, say, a huge mansion and freedom from further religious obligations, Lord CAIMEO found that Jeylani had almost impossible potential as a Projector. This came as a shock to CAIMEO, as it had never expected anyone outside of its cloning projects to have such power. Indeed, a Projector such as Jeylani has yet to be replicated. Jeylani is not like the other Great Projectors, as he has no single area of expertise or power. Rather, Jeylani is as close to a reality warper as is possible, as the quote above mentions. Jeylani's energy requirements are extreme, but manageable. The extent of Jeylani's power, given enough resources, is unknown; it may be infinite. Note that Jeylani requires both Soulfuel and traditional energy to function (in theory, he could operate entirely off of Soulfuel, but it is rather difficult to create enough Soulfuel to mimic an antimatter reactor). Jeylani has a personal starship; a 550m heavy cruiser containing only an interface by which he controls it, a helluvalotta armor, and enough energy production capacity to make your head spin. The Four Imams The Four Imams are the remaining four Great Projectors. All of them were produced by CAIMEO's genetic enhancement program. Each of them has a different specialty. "There is a fine line between a living being, and a whirlwind of destruction. If you are Imam Rabbani, congratulations on existing on both sides of this line simultaneously." * Imam Rabbani is, of the Four Imams, the one most focused on causing pure destruction. He can create shields, if needed, but his greatest skill lies in simply channeling energy. From behind the lines of battle, he reaches out, enhancing weaponry and causing tactical nuclear explosions until his supply of Soulfuel runs dry. * Nawawi is the only one of the Four Imams recognizable as being roughly human. He has a prosthetic leg, and some internal wiring that he claims to be for medical reasons. He specializes in espionage. * Ghazali is a master of technology. He can upgrade and merge with almost anything. * Taymiyyah is the the least powerful of the Great Projectors. He specializes in life and death; biology; plagues and healing. Relevant Links https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/nation-creation.341422/ https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/nation-creation.341422/page-30#post-17801368 https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/nation-creation.341422/page-84#post-18278878 https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/nation-creation.341422/page-101#post-18559872 https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/nation-creation.341422/page-1044#post-18621323 Category:NC Spacebattles Category:Omni Category:Nation Creation Category:Nation Creation Countries Category:Player Nations Category:NC Spacebattles Nations